Trip Report - Alaska Cruise August 2021

So is this the best time or the worst time to take a cruise ? I’ll go with the best time.

1) Carnival launched an e-mail barrage this spring/summer and the one that caught my attention was “*Free Cruise”. Of course, you pay port fees and taxes, and another $ 100 pp but you get $ 100 pp in onboard credit, which pretty much covers the standard tip amount.

2) And free drinks in the casino. I cruised with Carnival a few years ago, and played in the casino some, but I wouldn’t say a lot. I think that is why I got all the e-mail offers.

And more importantly:

3) Carnival took Covid precautions seriously.

So I booked a 5 day cruise out of Charleston, SC, but called a couple of months later and changed that to a 7 day Alaska cruise out of Seattle, which is an itinerary I have done before and enjoyed.

Mrs Q couldn’t go due to her work schedule, but my brother could. Mrs Q was more reasonable about all this than I thought she might be ! I did book a 12 day European cruise with her for next summer, courtesy of my local casino. That one was selected to fit her schedule.

Covid Pre-Cautions

Carnival was taking multiple Covid precautions which is a good thing IMHO.

It started with please certify you have been vaccinated by filling out this on-line survey.

And then it was revised to send us a picture of your Vaccination Card.

And then it was re-revised to say that for any sailings starting with Aug 14th, you had to show proof of a Negative covid test taken with 3 days of the sailing date. Wow, I should be safer on the cruise than I am in my hometown.

( Carnival stated that the crew was vaccinated and that their goal was to have 95 % of passengers vaccinated, leaving 5 % for misc medical exceptions ). My understanding was that EVERY passenger had to have a recent Negative Covid test, vaxed or not.

Checking Vax records added another step in the Boarding Process though. I was cautiously optimistic that things would still go quickly because I had pre-selected a boarding time slot on-line.

But it didn’t work out that way, from the time we got in line to the time we boarded the ship was 1 hour and 45 minutes.

;-(

So by the time we finally got on the ship, it felt like a:



CASINO



There are 12 misc table games, 2 roulette tables, and 1 craps table.

- 3/2 Blackjack with $ 25 min (DDAS, No resplitting Aces, Surrender NOT Offered )
- 6/5 Blackjack with $ 6 min
- 12 Video Poker games.
- About 178 Slot Machines.
- And a handful of claw and coin pusher games.

It was usually pretty easy to find a spot at a Blackjack table. I had some good runs at the table, and some bad ones, but a little more good than bad.

I don’t know all the Video Poker paytables, here are some I found at 25 cent denom:

7/5 JoB ( 96.1 % - paytables from WizardofOdds)



I didn’t think SOME of these were too bad for a cruise ship. But out of the 12 VP games, only 2 offered the higher ones on the Spin Poker. These were 25 cent to $ 2 denoms, but the paytables didn’t get better for the higher denom’s. I think they would actually make MORE money IF they offered a higher paytable at the higher denoms.

I played at the $ 25 BJ tables and also some Video Poker, figuring that I would play the best paytable I could find ( 6/5 Bonus Poker = 97 % ) because that had to be way better than the slots, AND because it is easier for the machine to track your play for future offers than table play ( ? ).

All in all, I ended the cruise up $ 105.

SURPRISE BONUS

The front desk called our cabin one afternoon. I am glad we were there to pick up the phone, because they offered to allow us to move to a balcony room if we were interested. YES, we were interested ! So we had that for the last 4 nights, woot woot.

Marine Life

We saw whales spouting from the ship, porpoises, and even a whale tail.

DINING

The staff was very attentive and friendly and professional, but serving so many people at once, it could be on the slow-side.

Some of the dishes were just plain bad:

The calamari appetizer was about the worst I have ever had. It was what I imagine you would get if calamari came in a heat and eat microwave box.

The shrimp in the shrimp cocktail appetizer were ok but not firm, and pretty small.

On our last night in the fancy dining hall, the pork chop I got was thin and dry. Worst I have ever gotten at a restaurant.

The lamb roast that I ordered one night as an entrée had 3 or 4 small pieces, but they were thin sliced and also thoroughly dried out. So I asked for a steak instead and it was pretty good. I saw “Lamb Sechzuan” at lunch a day or two later, so they managed to find a way to recycle that into a Chinese dish. I think it STILL may have benefited for another day or so in a marinade.



So steak became my “go to”, and they did a good job with that. On our last full day, they had sirloin steak at brunch and it was very good.

This was their 4th cruise on this ship this year, so I thought any issues they had getting started back up should have been sorted out by now.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Entertainment was mostly what you expect on a cruise, a group of singers and dancers performed several times. Their 80's Music Hits show on the last night was pretty good and I enjoyed it.

The stand-up comedians I saw were decent. The comedy magician was just OK. The little competition between 2 couples on stage the first night, where one of the ladies was on the obnoxious side, was just stupid (and lazy).



SIGHTSEEING

SKAGWAY:

We walked around Skagway on our own, there are a couple of good displays run by the National Park Service. There are some static train displays to see.

JUNEAU:

In Juneau, getting to the Mendenhall Glacier is a “must do”, so we book a bus ride out and back on a tour booked at one of the booths on the dock. This is a good option instead of the Ship Packages, booking in port is significantly less expensive. It was interesting to see the salmon in the stream. (In fact, we saw salmon in streams in all 3 of our ports). Our driver gave us some tokens for a free beer at a little hole-in-the-wall place in town, so we stopped in there on the way back to the ship.

KETCHIKAN:

I booked a trolley tour once we were off the ship, hoping to see and hear a lot of local history. But the tour was a little light on that. We did get to see a bear ( from a distance ) catching salmon in one of the streams outside of town.

There is a salmon ladder right in town on a section of the stream that is really fast moving, and it was fascinating to see salmon try to work their way up. I doubt that any of them made it up the main section of the stream, it was just moving to fast.

Covid Part 2

On this cruise, you were supposed to wear a mask unless actively eating or drinking or smoking in the casino. I wore one in the dining room when the waitress came by, just common courtesy.

Playing a VP game without a mask for 10 minutes because you have a cup of coffee with you doesn't make you clever, it makes you an arse. But to the Casino's credit, about once every 45 minutes they announced over the PA that masks were required as a reminder.

The vast majority of people were pretty good about this for most of the trip. I asked a couple of forgetful senior citizens to put their mask on in the elevator. They did.

But as you can see in this picture on the last night of the cruise, wearing masks got fairly lax, at least in the showroom.



Even though I have cruised before, here are a couple things I would do differently:

- Bring a plug adaptor that goes from 1 socket to 2 sockets.

- Bring a pair of binoculars.

I just got back from Alaska myself. Highly recommend to anyone. Juneau is nice, but if you can make it to Whittier and spend some time in Anchorage, I would highly recommend that as well. Have not made it to Skagway and Ketchikan (yet).

The Salmon swimming upstream is a must see, as is a hike to the Mendenhall Glacier.

Glad you enjoyed!

Quote: rsactuary

The Salmon swimming upstream is a must see, as is a hike to the Mendenhall Glacier.

AGREED ! Check back, I may try to add some more pix.

Thanks for the write-up, JQ. Mrs. Joeman and I are booked on the Miracle for July 2022, on a similarly 'free' deal.

FYI, I think you can book the Juneau Glacier AND a Whale Watching excursion Combo for around $ 125, if you are interested in that kind of thing AND IF you do it on the dock and NOT through the Cruise ship.

So technically if you get delayed getting back to the dock for whatever reason, the Cruise ship won't wait for you if you don't book it through them. But I think that is a very low risk.

Fully vaccinated AND wear a mask??

That's so funny!

Well I don't want to get too off topic here, but.....

YES, AND have a negative covid rapid test taken with-in 3 days of the cruise departure date.

Anyhows, I assume you have heard of the Delta Variant ?

And that the cruise industry has essentially been entirely shut down in the US since March 14, 2020 ?

And that just recently they are starting back up again, taking extra precautions to do it safely ?

And that 1 out of 528 people in the United States has died of Covid ( 628K deaths, ~ population of 331,449,300 ).

So, More SMART than FUNNY.

Now, where were we, oh yeah, any questions about ALASKA or the CRUISE SHIP / CASINO ?

Quote: JohnnyQ

So I booked a 5 day cruise out of Charleston, SC,

Damnit!! I was excited to read about a 5 day Alaskan cruise out of South Carolina. What kind of a boat are they using for that?

Well FWIW, Carnival Cruises out of Charleston SC have been postponed for a few more months.

There were a few more table game options in addition to 6/5 and 3/2 blackjack:

A covid cruise?

I'll pass.

Quote:

The staff was very attentive and friendly and professional, but serving so many people at once, it could be on the slow-side.
Some of the dishes were just plain bad:
The calamari appetizer was about the worst I have ever had. It was what I imagine you would get if calamari came in a heat and eat microwave box.
The shrimp in the shrimp cocktail appetizer were ok but not firm, and pretty small.
On our last night in the fancy dining hall, the pork chop I got was thin and dry. Worst I have ever gotten at a restaurant.
The lamb roast that I ordered one night as an entrée had 3 or 4 small pieces, but they were thin sliced and also thoroughly dried out. So I asked for a steak instead and it was pretty good. I saw “Lamb Sechzuan” at lunch a day or two later, so they managed to find a way to recycle that into a Chinese dish. I think it STILL may have benefited for another day or so in a marinade.

I can guarantee that 85% of the people there thought it was the best food they ever had. They went home and bragged about it for months. That's because most people don't know what good food is because all they eat at home is crap. Pre-packaged breaded microwaved junk food. To them any food they eat away from home is fabulous. Cruises get away with bad food because they let you eat so much of it. And they do have really good desserts and that's really all most people want. Decadent desserts they would never make at home. Whenever we eat in a buffet my wife will quickly put a bunch of nothingburger food on her plate and gobble it down so she can hit the desserts. She'll bring back a plate with seven different small desserts on it, and go up and do it again when that's gone. Most good desserts are time-consuming and expensive to make yourself and most women know this so they go crazy at buffets.

Quote: Gundy

Fully vaccinated AND wear a mask??

That's so funny!

Why is that funny. My wife's family is totally vaccinated and at last count 19 of them have covid. One is on a respirator for over a month and is not expected to live. All the precautions they took on this cruise mean almost nothing. All it would have taken was one Typhoid Mary to slip through the cracks and make half the people on that ship sick; vaccinated or not.

Quote: EvenBob

My wife's family is totally vaccinated and at last count 19 of them have covid. One is on a respirator for over a month and is not expected to live.

EvenBob: I am sorry to hear that.

It is my understanding that break-through infections of vaccinated people occur, but is much less likely than unvaccinated people, AND that the severity is lower for vaccinated vs unvaccinated. Of course that is no consolation for the relative on a ventilator.

Quote: EvenBob

All it would have taken was one Typhoid Mary to slip through the cracks and make half the people on that ship sick; vaccinated or not.

Well obviously I hope not. I wore a mask nearly all the time indoors. I social distanced when I could - although you do sit next to people in a small casino at times (I was wearing a mask), kindof like an airplane except not for 5 hours.

Any other ALASKA or CRUISE CASINO questions ?

Quote: EvenBob

And they do have really good desserts and that's really all most people want. Decadent desserts they would never make at home.

Yes, the desserts were always pretty good ! No complaints there. The Tiramasu Cheesecake at the lunch buffet was excellent. A server behind the counter ( with mask ) cut off a piece and served it to me.

I forgot to mention the.....

Player's Club

The Machines on-board had a card reader like most casinos. But interestingly, to cash out, you transferred money back to your card. And then you could collect that at the cashier.

The employees were NOT knowledgeable. I asked 2 different people how much coin-in it took to earn a point, and neither one knew:

A: $ 5 on VP to earn one point. Probably less on Slots, I didn't bother to check that.

If you don't have an offer/package that includes free drinks, I think you can "earn" them by getting to 1500 points on that cruise. That seems like a lot of points, I didn't get that many on a 7 day cruise.

The Casino had drawings for $ 100 cash in the afternoons on a couple of the days at sea, I think one entry for every 100 points earned that day. That's not much in EV, I would say that there were at least 150 people in the casino on those afternoons. But if you are there anyway, what the heck. IF the person was not present to claim the prize, the $ 100 was added to the next dwg.

Quote: Gundy

Fully vaccinated AND wear a mask??

That's so funny!

I do it all the time. And it's not funny because anti-vaxxers like you are allowing the virus to mutate and continuing this pandemic longer than it needs to be.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Any other ALASKA or CRUISE CASINO questions ?

I assume Hold'em poker is long gone?

My first Carnival cruise (I think around 2006) had live dealer poker. The next year, they put in one of those PokerPro electronic Hold'em tables.

I enjoyed reading this post. Thank you.

I've never been on a cruise but I think it's time. I've had free cruise offers before thru Seven Stars at Caesars.

Carnival now is offering free cruises to high level players at various casinos. I got one as Chairman with Stations.

I won't be ready to go till this Covid thing passes. But please keep the info coming.

Three questions.

Was this direct from Seattle to Alaska? And if so was no passport required, or did you need a passport because of the potential of stopping in Canada?

When you arrived in Alaska were there any local Covid regulations that surprised you?

And in the casino were there limits on total betting action and was the casino 24/7 when out to sea?

Thanks again.

Quote: EvenBob

I can guarantee that 85% of the people there thought it was the best food they ever had. They went home and bragged about it for months. That's because most people don't know what good food is because all they eat at home is crap. Pre-packaged breaded microwaved junk food. To them any food they eat away from home is fabulous. Cruises get away with bad food because they let you eat so much of it. And they do have really good desserts and that's really all most people want. Decadent desserts they would never make at home. Whenever we eat in a buffet my wife will quickly put a bunch of nothingburger food on her plate and gobble it down so she can hit the desserts. She'll bring back a plate with seven different small desserts on it, and go up and do it again when that's gone. Most good desserts are time-consuming and expensive to make yourself and most women know this so they go crazy at buffets.

I defiantly know good food, and I'm a good cook.

I was on a cruise to Mexico in the early 2000's. The served table food was excellent with different options and many courses, and the service was great. I think that's what I was most impressed by was the food. It was no different than a fine dining experience and food.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Was this direct from Seattle to Alaska? And if so was no passport required, or did you need a passport because of the potential of stopping in Canada?

Assume that a passport is required, because of the Jones Act.

Quote: smoothgrh

My first Carnival cruise (I think around 2006) had live dealer poker. The next year, they put in one of those PokerPro electronic Hold'em tables.

There was no live dealer poker games. Just the versions that are played at what looks like a BJ table.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Was this direct from Seattle to Alaska? And if so was no passport required, or did you need a passport because of the potential of stopping in Canada?

- YES, this particular cruise was a round-trip from and back to Seattle. In the PAST, but not this time, there was a stop in Victoria, BC. There are some itineraries that are North Bound or South Bound only from other Cities. ANYWAY, I took a passport but I am not 100 % sure it was required since we didn't stop in any other country. But back in Seattle, we did go through customs so having a passport probably speeded that up.

When you arrived in Alaska were there any local Covid regulations that surprised you?

- NO, not that I saw. I think all the shop and bar workers were wearing masks.

And in the casino were there limits on total betting action and was the casino 24/7 when out to sea?

- The table games had mins and max's per hand just like Vegas. I never stayed up too late to find out, but I am pretty sure the table games were not open around the clock when we were out to sea. I do know that they were not open early in the morning.

Quote: AxelWolf

I defiantly know good food, and I'm a good cook.

I was on a cruise to Mexico in the early 2000's. The served table food was excellent with different options and many courses, and the service was great. I think that's what I was most impressed by was the food. It was no different than a fine dining experience and food.

My experience on Carnival has been pretty decent in the main dining room. Not everything is a hit, but it's overall pretty good. The best part is that if you do get something that isn't good, they will bring you something else. And the service has been impeccable (except for that one time Sinatra's version of Porter's "I Get a Kick out of You" played on a continuous loop through our entire meal, but I digress).

I would imagine most people who don't appreciate 'good' food mainly stick to the buffets.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Any other ALASKA or CRUISE CASINO questions ?

Yeah, is Ultimate Fun 21 more or less fun than Super Fun 21? ;)

Seriously, though, what can you tell me about the cabins? We had originally had booked an Obstructed View on Deck 4, which would have given us a lovely closeup view of a lifeboat. We decided to switch to an ocean view room on Deck 1. Is there a preferable side for viewing the scenery?

Also, the Carnival cruises I have been on, the VP machine displays your current points, so you can do some quick math to determine the coin-in per point -- I assume that's what you did. I think the slots and VP are metered the same, but I will check that out on my next cruise.

As to the VP pay tables, it has been my experience as well that the variants (spin, UX, etc.) pay a 'notch' (usually an extra coin for the FH) better, though overall still quite horrible, than the single line machines. Plus, some of the variants also have lower denominations. E.g., I could play one line of Spin Poker 7/5 DDB for dimes, but it was 6/5 at the quarter level on the single line games. It sounds like this is the case on the Miracle?

Quote:

So technically if you get delayed getting back to the dock for whatever reason, the Cruise ship won't wait for you if you don't book it through them. But I think that is a very low risk.

No worries! I can always jump on the ferry to Ketchikan and catch up with he ship! :)

Quote: JohnnyQ

There was no live dealer poker games. Just the versions that are played at what looks like a BJ table.

Thanks for the report! The Mrs. and I are thinking about Alaska for our next cruise, whenever that might be. I enjoyed your descriptions of all the cruise/tour aspects!

Quote: Joeman

Seriously, though, what can you tell me about the cabins? We had originally had booked an Obstructed View on Deck 4, which would have given us a lovely closeup view of a lifeboat. We decided to switch to an ocean view room on Deck 1. Is there a preferable side for viewing the scenery?

We had an oceanview room initially on Deck 1. I think that is the minimum you want, it is obviously much better than being stuck in an inside cabin.

The surprising thing to me is that when we moved to a balcony cabin, the cabin floor space and lay-out was exactly the same as what we had before, but just with a balcony added on. But then you go from a single window to a big floor to ceiling window/glass door.

Our cabin had the separate twin beds, a mini-desk, a couch, and plenty of closet space for 2 people. (It wouldn't hurt to bring a few extra hangars).The bathroom is small but not too bad.

I don't think there is much difference in viewing port vs starboard. I think it is more interesting to have a window/balcony on the city side when the ship is docked (at least in Ketchikan), but I don't know if there is a way to guess which side the ship will be docked toward the city.

Quote: JohnnyQ

We had an oceanview room initially on Deck 1. I think that is the minimum you want, it is obviously much better than being stuck in an inside cabin.

The surprising thing to me is that when we moved to a balcony cabin, the cabin floor space and lay-out was exactly the same as what we had before, but just with a balcony added on. But then you go from a single window to a big floor to ceiling window/glass door.

If I may ask, how did you score the upgrade?

We got the upgrade in the middle of the cruise, which seems unusual. I assume that someone reasoned that Carnival might as well let some people get a taste of a balcony, figuring that I might be more likely to book that next time once I have experienced it (?). (It definitely was nice to have !).

And I think it was offered to me because of having played in the Carnival Casino on a couple of previous cruises (I am not a High-Roller, so it wasn't that).

Quote: Joeman

As to the VP pay tables, it has been my experience as well that the variants (spin, UX, etc.) pay a 'notch' (usually an extra coin for the FH) better, though overall still quite horrible, than the single line machines.

Not here, still 6/5 JoB on the Ult-X game. I don't know how the Ult-X Bonus at 10 coins played affects the overall return to the player.

Quote: Joeman

Plus, some of the variants also have lower denominations. E.g., I could play one line of Spin Poker 7/5 DDB for dimes, but it was 6/5 at the quarter level on the single line games. It sounds like this is the case on the Miracle?

There were some VP machines that had a denom as low as 10 cents, and some went as high as $ 2. I think most machines let you select the demon. BUT I don't think the denom changed the paytable.

Quote: smoothgrh

Thanks for the report! The Mrs. and I are thinking about Alaska for our next cruise, whenever that might be. I enjoyed your descriptions of all the cruise/tour aspects!

One tip...do not book the last week of the season which is late September. Wife and I did that for our honeymoon and the ocean swells were huge, even staff members were getting seasick. They even skipped the last port stop as it was too dangerous to dock there.

Quote: Johnzimbo

One tip...do not book the last week of the season which is late September.

This year, I am seeing ads for Alaska cruises that do not even start until October. It seems as if earlier this week I saw one even later than the one in that link, but I cannot find it today. Somehow, an October visit to Alaska seems a bit late in the season for a southern boy like me.

Well, as far as the best time of year to go, I would say this particular week, Aug 17 - Aug 24, worked out great for me. I have been to Ketchikan 2 other times and wasn't able to see the salmon running.

But I did this time and it was very cool and fun to see Salmon fight their way upstream. There is a great boardwalk and observation deck and bridge for viewing, right in town with-in a 1/2 mile of the dock.

This is looking "upstream" from the boardwalk, the salmon ladder is on the right.



Looking "downstream" from the bridge:

Thanks for the report. Good reading. Cool salmon run pic.
I have been on a number of cruises but not recently. How is the tipping handled these days?
Do any of the free offers include paying for tips? For example, can the the onboard credit be used for tipping?

113.5 here today, 60 doesn't sound bad at all. IMO, there are better cruises in Ak than in SE, but may not include gambling.

Quote: Doc

This year, I am seeing ads for Alaska cruises that do not even start until October. It seems as if earlier this week I saw one even later than the one in that link, but I cannot find it today. Somehow, an October visit to Alaska seems a bit late in the season for a southern boy like me.

Speaking as a former Alaskan resident, it's much better to go late in the season than early. This is especially true if you plan to visit the South-Central region as opposed to just the SE/ (aka Inside Passage) The problem with going too early is the noseeums and mosquitoes are swarming then in quantities unimaginable to folks from the Lower 48.

Quote: rsactuary

I just got back from Alaska myself. Highly recommend to anyone. Juneau is nice, but if you can make it to Whittier and spend some time in Anchorage, I would highly recommend that as well. Have not made it to Skagway and Ketchikan (yet).

Whiittier is one of the weirdest places on this planet, but weird in a cool way. The town's entire population (~325) all live in a single 14 story building which also contains city hall, the post office, grocery store, church, and everything else except for a cannery. NPR did a story a few years back that paints a pretty accurate picture of the place.

One other place I highly recommend visiting is Katmai National Park. This is where the Brooks Falls Bear Cam is located. It's not an easy place to get to (when I went back in 1978 we flew from Anchorage to King Salmon on a 737 that had been adapted to land on dirt runways, then transferred to an amphibious bush plane for the final leg) but the trip is well worth it if you want to experience the real Alaska.

A couple of posts have raised the issue of cruising in the era of COVID. This is a legit concern. Alaska, however, is one of the few places where there is a safe alternative to cruise lines like Carnival. You can do a private charter out of Seattle, Victoria, or Vancouver and head north on your own with just a few friends and family for company. I did this back in 2004 when myself and 3 friends chartered a 40' trawler out of Victoria.
If you want casinos and big buffets, this isn't for you. On the other hand, if you don't mind doing your own cooking you get to visit places cruise ships never go and the seafood is really fresh

Quote: Keeneone

For example, can the the onboard credit be used for tipping?

YES, there is a standard recommended amount for TIPS for a week long cruise. I think it was around $ 97. My "on-board credit" that came with the cruise went as a plus onto my account, and the tip amount was applied against that.

In the casino, I tipped $ 1.00 to $ 1.50 per drink. Just write down the tip amount and sign.

I've only been on one cruise, to see the Alaskan glaciers, and it was a good time.

Flew to Vancouver, BC where we boarded a Holland America ship, the Veendam; sailed the inside passage.

Cruise ended near Anchorage; took a train to Denali (boring, not recommended).

Flew home out of Anchorage.

Went in the summer; weird to have broad daylight at 10;30 PM.

Quote: JohnnyQ

YES, there is a standard recommended amount for TIPS for a week long cruise. I think it was around $ 97. My "on-board credit" that came with the cruise went as a plus onto my account, and the tip amount was applied against that.

In the casino, I tipped $ 1.00 to $ 1.50 per drink. Just write down the tip amount and sign.

Thanks.
Last time I cruised they had just begun adding automatic gratuity to many onboard charges, like for drinks. I remember talking to a server about the change, and was surprised the server preferred the "new" auto tip minimum vs leaving the tip optional to the passengers. So there was a base/minimum tip added and then you could add more before signing the receipt.

I found a decent picture of the bear in the creek outside of Ketchikan on my digital point-and-shoot camera:



I think it turned out nicely for being a couple hundred yards away.

Quote: MrV

Flew to Vancouver, BC where we boarded a Holland America ship, the Veendam; sailed the inside passage.

Cruise ended near Anchorage; took a train to Denali (boring, not recommended).

So far, I have only done the round trip itinerary from Seattle. But have sailed with Norwegian, Holland America ( Westerdam ), and now Carnival.

If you have an extra day in Seattle, I recommend the Museum of Pop Culture.

https://www.mopop.org/

I purposely avoid Seattle.

Nice enough city, but cursed with horrible traffic.

Portland is getting that way now also, especially on the freeways.

C'mon people, let's widen the freeways and rebuild the infrastructure.

Quote: MrV

I purposely avoid Seattle. Nice enough city, but cursed with horrible traffic.

I haven't rented a car in Seattle.

For this trip, we got a hotel near the airport before the cruise, and booked a SEATTLE EXPRESS shuttle-bus round-trip for $ 35 pp, plus tax (significantly less than the transfers offered by the cruise line).

Easy Peasy, they were on time picking us up on both segments.

Almost forgot ( I don't know much about Craps ). It was pretty popular on the Ship:

Been awhile since I’ve seen a Big 6 and 8 bet.

Looks like the folks in Skagway are pretty loose with their definition of "small boat".

Yeah, that makes for a fun picture.
The small boat harbor I think is actually to the right of the way I framed this picture.